Agenda Free

When the battle becomes more than you can bear, and fighting the good fight seems an overwhelming burden, may I suggest that you do what I did today. I had the best time. I went to my son's second-grade class and I read them Dr. Suess.

Before I began, I took questions. The teacher asked me what I do and I explained to her that I was a sophomore at the University, which is just like second grade in college. She then asked if I paid to go to the University, to which, of course, I replied that I did. To my amazement, the next question was directed to the class. Is Mr. ****** paying for a good or a service? My son's second grade class has already learned this concept as well as the laws of supply and demand and about producers and consumers. They can't even write in cursive yet, and their already learning economics. Times sure have changed. (Only the slightest twinge that the teacher has a W sticker in the back window of her Lincoln Town Car)

I don't get to spend a lot of time with groups of children, and I was amazed at their sweetness and directness. They were very polite. When they want your attention, they touch you, without concern of the connotations. When they ask you a question, they want a dialogue. They want to know why and they listen. Then they want you to listen to them. And they trust you. What a refreshing change. What a responsibility.

I have often heard how naive we are as liberals. Well, I, for one, don't consider that an insult. The fact that, at 37, I can still look at the world with childlike wonder, is one of my few really good qualities. I want to trust the next person I vote for. And I want that person to nurture that trust. I want him/her to be willing and anxious to have a dialogue. I will listen. I want them to listen to me. They should be a steward for the common good. That would be a refreshing change, no?